Various types of minerals are found in seawater. The typical composition of seawater includes a significant amount of sodium chloride, as well as potassium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate, magnesium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, etc. Sodium chloride has many known uses; the other minerals found in seawater also have various uses. Magnesium sulfate and its hydrates, for example, can be used as a fertilizer. Potassium nitrate can be used to produce not only fertilizer, but also products in the glass, enamel, and ceramics industries, as well as for manufacturing explosives and pyrotechnics, etc. Minor applications are also found in the cement, sugar, and aluminum industries.
In many areas of the world, such as where fresh drinking water is not readily available, desalination methods and systems are used to produce fresh drinking water. There are many types of desalination methods and systems available, such as those described in Applicants' U.S. application Ser. No. 11/731,717, filed Mar. 30, 2007, entitled “Desalination Method and System Using Compressed Air Energy Systems.” One of the objectives of the above described system is the production of fresh drinking water by removing the minerals, impurities and contaminants therein using a modified Eutectic Freezing Crystallization (EFC) method of desalination. While this system was previously designed to remove the minerals, impurities and contaminants, it was not specifically designed to collect and salvage the valuable minerals in a cost efficient way. Heretofore, systems designed to remove minerals and collect and utilize them for commercial purposes and industry has not been developed.